If it has to do with New Haven and sports, you'll read about it here. Yale, Quinnipiac, New Haven, Southern Connecticut, Albertus Magnus, high schools, the New Haven Open, and Walter Camp to name a few. Plus we'll give you a look at the best to see each day.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Bobby V to speak at SCSU April 15

From Southern Connecticut State:
Bobby Valentine – perhaps best known for guiding the New York Mets to their last World Series appearance in 2000 – will speak about the importance of youth sports and their effect on a person’s character on April 15 at Southern Connecticut State University.

The former Mets manager and current baseball analyst for ESPN is the keynote speaker and a panelist for the program, “The Value of Youth Sports: Developing Kids’ Character or Early Test of their Mettle?” It begins at 10:30 a.m. at SCSU’s Michael J. Adanti Student Center Theater.

The panel discussion, following Valentine’s lecture, will include Julie Greenwood, executive direction of Squash Haven, a non-profit youth development agency in New Haven; Karreem Mebane, a former professional baseball umpire who has taught classes on ethics in sports, and Valentine. Bob Picozzi, ESPN sportscaster, will take part as a panelist and will moderate the discussion.

Joseph Panza, SCSU professor of recreation and leisure, is coordinating the program, which is free and open to the public. It is designed to be the inaugural forum for the new sports management program being offered by the university’s Recreation and Leisure Studies Department.

“We frequently hear about how participating in youth sports can build character in kids,” Panza said. “Yet, others say that sports are more about testing a person’s character and that they reveal the flaws in an individual’s character. In this forum, we plan to explore both views on this topic and seek our panelists’ thoughts, experiences and perspectives from youth sports to professional athletes.”

Panza added that he is delighted to have Valentine speak on campus. “Bobby is such a well-known and well-liked personality who has accomplished a great deal in both sports and in the business world,” he said.

On April 11, SCSU will show the movie, “The Zen of Bobby V,” as a lead up to the April 15 program. The movie is about Valentine’s time as the manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines, a professional baseball team in the Japanese Pacific League. It was co-produced by Jonah Quickmire Pettigrew, son of David Pettigrew, SCSU professor of philosophy. The movie will be shown at 3:15 p.m. in the Adanti Student Center Theater and is free and open to the public.

Valentine is a Stamford native who graduated from Rippowam High School in Stamford and later from the University of Southern California. He was a utility player for several Major League Baseball teams, starting with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1969. He landed with the Mets during the 1977 season, before being released in 1979, when he signed with the Seattle Mariners. He retired after that season and then turned his focus to the business world, opening his own sports bar/restaurant in Stamford. He returned to baseball in 1985, serving as the Mets’ third base coach early in the season, when he was offered a job to take over as manager of the Texas Rangers, where he continued until 1992. After a stint as manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines, a team, in the Japanese Pacific League in 1995, he returned to the United States and managed the Norfolk Tides, the Mets AAA club. At the end of the 1996 season, he was asked to take over the Mets. He compiled a 536-467 records as the Mets skipper between 1996 and 2002. During that time, he led the Mets to the playoffs in 1999 and 2000.

Valentine went back to manage the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2003, where he enjoyed a successful tenure, including capturing the Japan Series in 2005. He became the first non-Japanese manager to accomplish that feat. He turned to the broadcasting booth during the 2009 playoffs and has been serving as a baseball analyst for ESPN since the start of the 2010 season. He also is currently the director of public safety for Stamford.

Saturday's Best

A daily look at the best of the local sports scene ...

Catch a nap, you want to be well-rested come Saturday evening. Not only do you losse an hour of sleep, but the UConn men's basketball team tips off in the Big East championship game against Louisville at 9 p.m. on ESPN.

-- Yale's hockey team had quite a shock Friday night when St. Lawrence came back to win in overtime. Yale plays host to St. Lawrence Saturday at 7 p.m. in Game 2 of the best-of-three series. A trip to Atlantic City for the ECAC Hockey semifinals will slip through the Bulldogs fingers with a loss.

-- Quinnipiac's hockey team is in Ithaca, N.Y. again Saturday for Game 2 of its ECAC Hockey series. Cornell topped Quinnipiac Friday.

Friday's Best

A daily look at the best of the local sports scene ....

-- Wow! What will Kemba do next?

We'll find out when the UConn men's basketball team plays Syracuse in the Big East semifinals (raise your hand if you had the Huskies in the semifinals ... yeah, sure!) at 7 p.m. at Madison Square Garden. The game is on ESPN. If you set the DVR you better put it on extended play just in case. You never know when teams might go six overtimes.

-- In boys basketball, Career plays host to Weaver in a game played at Wilbur Cross at 7 p.m. in a Class M state tournament quarterfinal.
Also, Fairfield Prep plays host to Xavier in an all-SCC matchup (and years ago, what would have been an All ACC matchup). That is also a 7 p.m. start and a Class LL quarterfinal matchup.

-- In girls basketball, Hillhouse plays top-seeded Bacon Academy at Maloney-Meriden in a Class L semifinal. The Academics are the fourth-seed (based on record)

-- Looking ahead, tickets are expected to be on sale for most of the week to Yale's ECAC Hockey quarterfinal wekend series against St. Lawrence at Ingall's Rink because the students are on spring break. Yale is the No. 2 seed and ranked No. 3 in the nation. The first game is Friday at 7 p.m.

-- Saturday at 4 p.m. at Yale's Lee Amphitheater, Harvard faces Princeton in an Ivy League men's basketball playoff game for the league's NCAA berth. Harvard has not been to the NCAA tournament since 1946.

Tuesday's Best

A daily look at the best of the local sports scene ...

-- Something tells me the smart phones and office computers are going to be getting a lot of use following the UConn men's basketball team's first-round Big East tournament game at Madison Square Garden against DePaul at noon (ESPN2)

Sunday's Best

A daily look at the best of the local sports scene ....

Set the DVR for the UConn women's basketball team's opener against Georgetown at 2 p.m. in the Big East tournament if you're not going to make the trip to Hartford or if you do not get ESPNU and head to Hamden for some live basketball.

-- The Quinnipiac men play host to Robert Morris in a Northeast Conference men's basketball semifinal at 2 p.m. at the TD Bank Sports Center. The game is on Fox College Sports (a good bet if you don't have ESPNU you're also not going to have FCS). The atmosphere should be exceptional.

A win by Quinnipiac and an upset by Central Connecticut over top-seeded Long Island, could lead to a Connecticut final Wednesday. We can only hope. Those regular-season games are close to sellouts. Imagine with an NCAA berth on the line.

The Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport continues hosting the MAAC tournament, and the top-seeded Fairfield men's basketball team plays at 2 p.m. against Saint Peter's in a game that can also be seen on MSG. This is the semifinals of the tournament.

Boating Course in Milford April 9

USCG Auxiliary 24-3 is offering About Boating Safety course on Saturday April 9. For advanced registration prior to the class date, go to http://a0142403.uscgaux.info/ or register in person on Sunday, April 3, NOON to 3 PM at the Flotilla 24-3 Training Center, 1 Helwig Street, Milford, CT which is located one block north of Milford Boat Works. Walk-ins are welcome.

The About Boating Safety course (ABS) will be held on Saturday, April 9 starting at 8 AM.
Instruction will cover all the basic topics involved in the safe operation of recreational boating and seamanship. It will also cover safe personal watercraft operation. Successful completion of this 8 hour ABS course satisfies the Connecticut licensing requirements for both boats and Personal Watercraft (PWC).

Saturday's Best

A daily look at the best of the local sports scene ...

Plenty to do in playoff time. Just a matter of what you want to see.

-- The UConn men's basketball team is playing for playoff position when it plays host to Notre Dame at 2 p.m. at Gampel Pavilion on ESPN/espn2. It's senior day, and junior Kemba Walker will also be honored. I have no problem with this for one reason: Walker is on pace to graduate in May. If he was not, then I would think it was wrong. But if a player is academically on pace to graduate, then he has earned the right to be honored on senior day.

-- The Quinnipiac hockey team looks to advance in the ECAC Hockey playoffs when it plays host to Brown at 7 p.m. at TD Bank Sports Center. The Bobcats have a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. Game 3 would be Sunday at Hamden.

-- The Yale women's basketball team, which has quietly had an exceptional season, including an upset of then-nationally ranked Florida State, play host to Columbia. Yale is 9-3 in Ivy League play. Princeton is 10-1 with three games left. And get this, admission to games this weekend is FREE!

-- The UConn women do not play until Sunday, but there is still plenty of action at the XL Center in Hartford with the start of the Big East women's basketbal tournament.The schedule:First round: Pittsburgh vs. South Florida, Noon; Syracuse vs. Seton Hall, 2 p.m.; West Virginia vs. Cincinnati, 6 p.m.; Providence vs. Villanova, 8 p.m.

Providence has former Hopkins standout Lauren Okafor, who was named to the Big East All-Freshman team Thursday.

-- In Bridgeport, the MAAC basketball tournament is in full swing for the women at the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard. The women's quarterfinals are in the afternoon, with the men's first round in the evening. The Fairfield women play at 3:30. The top-seeded Fairfield men do not start play until Saturday at 4:30 p.m.The women's schedule Friday: Quarterfinals: Loyola, Md. vs. Canisius, 9:30 a.m.; Manhattan vs. Iona, 11:30 a.m.; Marist vs. Saint Peter’s-Rider winner, 1:30 p.m.; Siena vs. Fairfield, 3:30 p.m.

-- In West Hartford at the University of Hartford's Chase Family Arena, West Haven's Chantell Alford, the America East Player of the Year out of Boston University, plays in the first game of the America East tournament at 12:05.

Hamden's Ilicia Mathis plays for Hartford, which plays the final game of the night at about 8.

-- Class LL and Class M girls basketball quarterfinals take place tonight. A couple to spotlight: Lauralton Hall travels to Newtown in a rematch of the SWC championship and Career plays host to SCC rival Cheshire.

Thursday's Best

A daily look at the best of the local sports scene ...

The Madness is here! And there is plenty of Madness in Connecticut for the several days.

-- Quinnipiac's men's basketball team plays host to Mount St. Mary's at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Northeast Conference tournament. Remember, the Bobcats hosted the championship game a year ago. This year, they are the No. 2 seed.

Tuesday's Best

A daily look at the best of the local sports scene ....

While you make your plans for later in the week for the college basketball postseason tournaments (The MAAC men and women at Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard, The America East men and women at UHart, Big East women in Hartford, Northeast Conference men's home games at Central Connecticut and Quinnipiac Saturday) take a night out to enjoy some good high school boys basketball

-- There are several conference tournament semifinal matchups across the state, including the SCC tournament at Quinnipiac's TD Bank Sports Center. Tip-off in the opener -- Hillhouse vs. Wilbur Cross -- is 6 p.m. followed by Fairfield Prep vs. Career.

If you've never been to Quinnipiac's facility, it's worth the trip.

If you've never experienced Cross-Hillhouse, all the more reason to check it out.

-- If you prefer a high school gym atmosphere, the Shoreline semifinals are at the sites of the higher seeds, with Valley Regional hosting Hale-Ray and Cromwell playing host to Old Lyme. Both games tip at 6:30 p.m.

-- If you're willing to brave a chilly night, and just have an urge to see a sport played outside, Quinnipiac travels to play Fairfield in men's lacrosse at 7 p.m.